Pop Week: 'Mad Men' returns, 'Pine'-ing for Ryan Gosling

April 7, 2013

In this Saturday, March 23, 2013 photo, Harrison Ford, left, and Chadwick Boseman, cast members in the film '42,' pose together for a portrait in Los Angeles. In the new movie by writer-director Brian Helgeland, Boseman plays Jackie Robinson and Ford plays Brooklyn Dodgers president and general manager Branch Rickey. Remembering Robinson's accomplishments is more important than ever, say people involved with '42' and baseball historians alike. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) / Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

Make a date tonight with 'Mad Men'

When last we left Don Draper, he was sitting in a bar looking despondently debonair when a young woman asked him, “Are you alone?” Apparently, that’s a question (literal and existential) preoccupying the sixth season of AMC’s genius deep dive into the careers and souls of the characters surrounding the Sterling Cooper Draper (RIP) Pryce advertising agency, who continue to deal with the ever-changing 1960s. When the series returns with a two-hour episode at 9 tonight, be there or be as square as Don and Harry Crane were backstage at that Rolling Stones concert.

Ann Arbor hosts TCM and Tippi Hedren

She’s best known as one of Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic leading ladies. She’s portrayed by Sienna Miller in HBO’s “The Girl,” which details the torment she endured while making the director’s “The Birds.” And she’s also Melanie Griffith’s mom. Screen star Tippi Hedren is coming to Ann Arbor with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz for a screening of “Marnie” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Michigan Theater. In the 1964 psychological drama, she plays a compulsive thief opposite Sean Connery. The free event is part of the cinematic-themed cable network’s lead-up to the TCM Classic Film Festival on April 25-28 in Hollywood. Go to the schedule at www.MichTheater.org for the link to reserve tickets.

Quality time with Ryan Gosling

Hey girl, we told you earlier this week that Ryan Gosling’s feature-film directing debut, “How to Catch a Monster,” will be shot and set in Detroit. When he starts work here in May, let’s treat him with the same Midwest graciousness and respect that we did in 2011 during filming for “The Ides of March,” OK? That means no screams of joy at Gosling sightings, but maybe a polite, “I really enjoyed your work in ‘Crazy Stupid Love.’ ” In the meantime, you can see Gosling starting Friday in “The Place Beyond the Pines,” his new movie with Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes that’s winning over critics with its bold acting and intriguing structure.

Exploring 'Da Vinci's Demons' on Starz

Watching the paint dry on the Mona Lisa wouldn’t make for good television. That’s why “Da Vinci’s Demons,” a new history-fantasy drama that debuts at 10 p.m. Friday on Starz, focuses on what the series describes as the secret life of the artist and inventor whose battles against religious and social hierarchies — and his search for truth and innovation — “nearly become his undoing as he explores the fringes of his own sanity.” As they used to say in the Renaissance age, yowsa! The show comes from Ann Arbor native David S. Goyer, whose story and screenwriting credits include “The Dark Knight” trilogy and the upcoming Superman reboot “Man of Steel.” Goyer worked some nifty Detroit shout-outs into his previous series, ABC’s “FlashForward.” Hmm, wonder if Leonardo will be wearing a Tigers cap in any scenes?

A big-screen look at baseball legend Jackie Robinson

Just in time for a new baseball season, “42” arrives Friday to tell the inspiring story of Jackie Robinson, the great player who broke the Major League color barrier by joining the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was an epic moment not just for professional sports, but for American society, and it has been explored in previous movies (Robinson played himself in 1950’s “The Jackie Robinson Story,” and Blair Underwood and Andre Braugher portrayed him in 1990s TV movies). In this version, Chadwick Boseman (who guested on “Detroit 1-8-7” and “Justified”) is the legendary icon, while Harrison Ford is Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Dodgers.